


Nyctophobia

by Uncreative_Mind



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Convienent Power Outage, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hugs, I don't know how to write panic attacks I hope I did good, M/M, Nightlight - Freeform, Nyctophobia, One Shot, Panic Attacks, Power Outage, Remus is kind of an ass I'm sorry, Roman Sanders Needs A Hug, Roman is scared of the dark, Roman needs a nightlight, Storms, cuddles uwu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24133120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uncreative_Mind/pseuds/Uncreative_Mind
Summary: Roman has a secret. A not-so-princely secret. He's scared of the dark. He knows it's ridiculous. Even Patton isn't afraid of the dark.Thankfully, he sleeps with a night-light on every night, and it makes him feel just a teeny bit safer. Of course he'd never let the others know, Virgil would tease him to no end.But what happens when that light is no longer there?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Comments: 8
Kudos: 158





	Nyctophobia

**Author's Note:**

> aH this was inspired by that one scene in "Embarrassing Phases" where Roman screeches like a little girl in the dark-

Roman was getting ready to settle in for the night, as it was almost 1 AM.

Right now, he had just finished brushing his teeth, and was ready to head back to his room.

Upon entering it, he spotted Remus, standing in the corner.

He groaned, “Remus, it’s too late for this. Just go away.”

“Pff, you really think that’s going to persuade me to leave?” Remus responded.

Roman only groaned once more in response.

“Oh come ON, brother, don’t you want to spend time with me?” Remus smirked.

“NO. Get out.”

“Oh you’re no fun.” Remus pouted.

“Why’re you even here in the first place? If you’re here to steal my deodorant again, I will hurt you.” Roman demanded.

“Whaaaat? No, of course not.” Remus said, shrugging, “You don’t have any deodorant left to steal.” He added quickly under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” Remus skipped over to the doorway. He paused before leaving, spotting a faint glow in the corner of Roman’s room, “Oooh, what’s that?”

Roman’s face twisted with panic, “Don’t touch it!” He stepped in front Remus, attempting to push him out.

This only enticed Remus even further to investigate.

He shoved Roman out of the way, making his way quickly over to the glow.

“Remus-“

It was a night-light.

Remus burst out laughing, as his twin could only stare on in shock and embarrassment.

“You-“ Remus wheezed, “You sleep with a night-light?! What are you, five??”

“N-no!”

Remus only cackled in response, “Oh wait til Jan hears about this! This is so unbelievable!”

“No! You’re not telling anyone about this!” Roman grabbed Remus’ wrist, with a surprisingly strong grip.

“Why not?” He teased.

“Because- I’ll literally murder you if you do!” Roman snarled back.

“I’d like to see you try.”

Roman shot Remus a withering glare, to which the other only responded with more immature giggling.

“Gee Roman,” Remus pushed Roman’s hands away, “It’s not very princely of you to be scared of the dark, you know, considering you’re supposed to be the brave, fearless, and strong side.” He shrugged, “Just a thought.”

Roman was silent during Remus’ monologue, only glaring at him. After a few moments, he only uttered two words,

“Get. Out.”

“Okay, okay! Don’t have to ask me twice!” Remus hurried out of the room.

Roman glared after him, and slammed the door behind his twin.

Whatever. Who was Remus to say what was princely and what wasn’t, huh? It’s not like HE would know anything about it. He was just a smelly trash man.

Roman glanced back over to his night-light sadly.

Or.. maybe Remus WAS right. Thomas wasn’t afraid of the dark. None of the other sides were either. This was just a stupid fear that he needed to get over.

He walked over to the small light and yanked it from the wall.

The soft and warm glow that was omitting from the night-light immediately disappeared, and Roman shuddered slightly.

Was he really going to do this? All because of a few stupid things his brother said? He paused.

Of course he was.

-

~ Later That Night ~

Roman had finally mustered up the courage to turn off the lights, and then bury himself under the covers.

He took a deep breath, and counted to three.

“One,” He reached for the switched.

“Two,” He held his hand right above the switch.

“Three.” And the lights went out.

But Roman hadn’t even touched the switch.

To his horror, the power had gone out.

He flicked the light switch off and on, but to no avail. The power was definitely out.

His breathing quickened, as he clumsily slid off his bed, and tried to search his room for a flashlight, or his phone, or just SOMETHING that would omit light.

His panicking grew worse when he couldn’t find his way around his room, often tripping and stumbling over various unseen things.

He collapsed to his knees, and the room seemed to spiral around him.

He couldn’t see- He couldn’t breathe-

He felt like he was dying. Was he dying? He was definitely dying.

He took multiple sharp inhales as he struggled to keep control over his breathing. He felt dizzy as well, like the room was spinning around him. His entire body trembled violently, so badly that he couldn’t even stand up.

Curling up into a ball, he sobbed and shook on the floor of his room.

He was gonna die, he was never going to see anyone ever again, he was dying.

As these thoughts spiraled in his head, he dug his nails deeper into his arms, clenching his teeth.

He had broken out into a cold sweat, and he tried to take deep breaths to calm down, but could only take sharp and shallow inhales.

His body shook with sobs and he curled himself even tighter into a ball.

Then, suddenly, there was a banging at his door.

“Roman!” Shouted a familiar voice.

‘..Virgil..?’ Roman thought to himself, still trembling.

“Roman are you in here?” He heard the emo curse under his breath, “Screw it, I’m going in,” He heard his door creak open, “Roman, I swear to God, if you’re naked-“

Virgil froze when he saw the state that Roman was in (A/N, Virgil’s got good night vision, fight me)

“Roman-“ He rushed over to the creative side, “Roman I need you to try and take deep breaths.”

Roman once again attempted, to no avail.

Virgil lifted Roman up off the floor (strong boi), and dragged him over to his bed.

He placed the prince down, immediately draping him in blankets, and holding (more like hugging hehe) him tightly.

“Roman, it’s okay, you’re not going to die, you’re safe. I’m here. It’s alright.” He reassured.

Roman still sobbed and shook, with sudden sharp inhales.

“Deep breaths.” Virgil reminded him, “Roman, you’re having a panic attack, and I need you to focus on what I’m saying, okay?”

Roman nodded in between sobs.

“Okay, breathe in for four seconds,” Virgil instructed, “Then hold your breath for seven,”

Roman did as he was told.

“Then exhale for eight seconds.” Virgil nodded, “There you go, now keep doing that. If you want to, you can close your eyes."

Roman nodded and shut his eyes.

Virgil cradled Roman in his arms as the aforementioned practiced the breathing exercise.

Slowly, but surely, Roman's breathing began to slow and go back to normal, though every now and then he would shake as he exhaled.

“It’s okay Roman, you’re safe, it’s fine.” Virgil whispered repeatedly, rubbing his hand in a circular motion on the other brunette’s back.

After several minutes, which seemed more like hours to the two, Roman finally calmed down.

“Roman, if you want to, would you mind telling me what happened?” Virgil asked gently.

Roman shook his head, “It’s stupid.”

“If it caused you to have a panic attack, I doubt it’s very stupid Roman.”

Roman looked away, “You’re going to make fun of me."

“I promise that I won’t.” Virgil assured.

“You promise?” Roman put an emphasis on the word ‘promise’.

“I promise.” Virgil nodded.

Roman took a deep breath, and hesitated for a few moments.

“I’m scared of the dark!” He blurted out all of a sudden, causing the anxious side to jump, having been startled.

Roman looked down, “It’s really stupid. A prince shouldn’t be scared of the dark.”

“Roman, don’t invalidate your own fears, it’s perfectly fine to be afraid of the dark.” Virgil comforted.

“But-“

“No buts. If you were scared of the dark, why didn’t you take out a flashlight?”

“I couldn’t find one.”

“Oh.”

A silence fell between them.

“Hey, why’d the power go out?” Roman asked suddenly.

“Oh, it’s storming outside.” Virgil shrugged, and as if it were on cue, a clap of thunder echoed throughout the mind palace.

Roman flinched slightly at the noise.

“Guess it took out the power.” Virgil’s grip around Roman’s waist tightened, “Oh, Roman, here’s an idea, maybe you could keep a night-light in your room or something.”

“I had one,” Roman said, “But Remus found out and teased me about it, so I go rid of it.”

“Roman,” Virgil inhaled, “That was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

Roman looked down.

“You and I both know Remus is a god damn moron, you shouldn’t listen to him.”

“I know.. but still-“

“If it makes you feel better, I can tell you one of my stupid fears.” Virgil offered.

Roman stared up at Virgil, “Really? You would?”

Virgil nodded.

“Ok then,” Roman gestured for Virgil to go on.

Virgil inhaled, “I’m afraid of ranch dressing.” (A/N big ol’ thanks to my friend for that)

Roman burst into a fit of giggles, “Ranch dressing??? Why?!” He snorted.

“Hey!” Virgil punched Roman playfully in the shoulder, “It’s not funny!”

“But like.. WHY??”

“Because, I choked on it once.” He crossed his arms.

Roman giggled again, “I see.”

“Hey, I didn’t make fun of your fear, don’t laugh at mine.” Virgil pouted.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”

“Hmph.” There was a small silence between the two before they both burst into a fit of giggling.

Once the giggling died down, Roman shot Virgil a serious look, “Hey.. Virgil?..” He asked.

Virgil looked at him, “Yeah?”

“Would you mind.. staying here tonight? It’s just-“

“Nah, I get it Roman, of course I’ll stay.” He smiled.

“Yay!” Roman wrapped his arms around Virgil, “Snuggle time!”

“Wa I T-“ But it was already too late, Roman had successfully wrapped his arms around the other and laid down.

“Hehe, you’ve fallen into my trap.” Roman smirked, as Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Dork.”

-

~ The next morning ~

Patton walked into Roman’s room, about to wake him up for breakfast, when he saw two figures cuddled up together under several blankets.

He noticed that the figures were Virgil and Roman.

He smiled. Breakfast could wait, he needed to tell Logan about this.

Before leaving, he snapped a picture.

‘For the scrapbook.’ He thought, swiftly exiting the room.

And so, Patton left the two to their sleepy snuggles.

**Author's Note:**

> uwu


End file.
